


Forgive and Forget

by HoneyBee123



Category: Highlander - All Media Types, Highlander: The Series
Genre: Canon Universe, F/M, Friends to Lovers, Friendship, Friendship/Love, Male-Female Friendship, Quickening, Swordfighting
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-19
Updated: 2019-09-25
Packaged: 2020-10-21 17:47:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 6,574
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20697527
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HoneyBee123/pseuds/HoneyBee123
Summary: Steven Keane realizes that he needs someone he can count on





	1. Chapter 1

He sat in the bar, nursing his drink, alone. He ignored everyone else in the bar, only focused on his drink, occasionally signaling the bartender to fill his glass. He sighed as he pulled his wedding ring from his finger and put it on the table. So this was the end after all – his ex-wife was getting married. He thought that they would be together again after the divorce. But apparently, he was wrong.

The saxophone player was playing the saddest jazz ever, and it annoyed him. But he listened to jazz because after all, he chose this bar. This was his second time in this bar; he liked the atmosphere and the music. But today was not the day, as the music didn’t brighten his mood. He saw the owner of the bar was walking around with his cane as he greeted some of the patrons. He was an old guy, maybe around 70 years old. He knew it was the owner because the waiters talked to him and he seems running the whole thing. He heard one of the patrons greeted him. He seems like a nice guy who had been experienced a lot of things.

He drank his whiskey and remembering why he was in that bar.

Rosalie called this morning and told him that she was getting married to a bank manager. And she invited him to her wedding. A freaking bank manager named Chad or something. Who the hell cares? He knew that their marriage was over, including the relationship. “Let’s be friends,” she said. Yeah, right. That would never happen. After all these centuries, it was still hurt. It wasn’t surprising but hurt nonetheless.

He knew that it was his fault; all the secrecy, the excuses, and his stubbornness that made her divorce him. But he couldn’t tell who he was… that he was an immortal.

Maybe it was his curse.

So here he was, in this jazz bar, drowning his sorrow. He sighed and drank his whiskey when suddenly he sensed an immortal.

_Bollocks._

He didn’t want to face an immortal right now. Couldn’t they just let him wallow in peace? He paid for his drink and was ready to leave when he saw who walked into the bar and greeted the owner of the bar.

A woman with a short bob haircut widened her eyes when she saw him.

For a moment they didn’t know what to do. Should they fight?

He decided it was better to be friendly. He gave him a wan smile and greeted her. “Amanda.”

Amanda bit her lip and gave him a sweet smile. “Steven Keane.”

“Hey…” Keane approached her and looked at her. She looked the same from more than twenty-five years ago, still have a short haircut, but different hair color. She had blonde hair now. “H-How are you?” Amanda smiled and took off her coat, revealing a very tight red dress. “Good, I guess.”

She chuckled, “Umm… yeah. You can say that.” She looked at Keane’s appearance as well. “You look well, it seems.”

Keane put his hands in his pockets and nodded. “Yeah.”

Amanda nodded. “I’m glad.”

“Are you?” Keane looked at her.

Amanda tilted her head to the side. “Yes.”

Before they could say anything else, the owner of the bar approached them. “Amanda, your table is waiting.” He signaled at the table in the back. A nervous-looking man with thick glasses was sitting there, drinking a glass of beer. He looked at Keane. “I don’t believe we’ve met. I’m Joe Dawson, the owner of this establishment.”

“I notice. You have a great place. I’m Steven Keane.” They shook hands. Keane had a feeling that Dawson knew him, but he didn’t know-how. “I’m a club owner myself.”

“Really? In Seacouver?”

“In Paris, darling,” Amanda answered for him. “Not your scene, Joe. Lots of grinding and butt wiggling.” She winked to Keane. “You’re gonna love the place; it used to be a monastery.”

“I am more of a Blues guy myself. I used to have a blues café in Paris called ‘Le Blues Café’, but I decided to move back to the USA permanently. As you can see, I can’t do the butt wiggling anymore.” Joe pointed to his cane. “I leave that to Miss Amanda to do the… wiggling.” He made a face and then said to Amanda. “Please don’t make him cry this time? I don’t want to lose another customer.” He pointed with his thumb at the man in the corner.

“Oh, Joe. It’s not my fault that these nerds can’t handle me.” She turned to Keane and said. “I have a date. Not my type, but…” She rubbed her thumb and forefinger at him. He chuckled watching her doing that. It seems she hasn’t changed at all.

Which begs the question: Is she still with Duncan MacLeod?

“Well, whatever you do, don’t make a mess.” Joe nodded to Keane. “Nice to meet you.” He then walked away with his cane.

Keane and Amanda stood awkwardly together before she finally said, “So I guess this is it. I gotta meet that guy and get all of his money.” He snorted and shook his head. “I’m glad that you’re okay, Steven.” She offered her hand and he took it. “See you around.”

As they shook hands, Keane said, “Actually… I’d like to see you again.” Amanda shot her eyebrows upward. “I feel like we parted in a bad way back then. I hope we can actually… I don’t know, be friends?”

“Uhh… we parted in a bad way because you were trying to kill... you were trying to do that thing we do to my friend.” She released his hand.

“Are you still seeing Duncan MacLeod?”

Amanda snorted. “And that’s where I’m leaving you. Goodbye, Steven.” She turned around but Keane held her wrist. She frowned and stared at him, confused.

“Look, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean anything by asking. Me and MacLeod… It’s water under the bridge. I just… I really liked you back then. I thought I can mend things.” He let her go. “Maybe we can hang out sometimes.”

Amanda studied Keane. He sounded sincere, but then again he wasn’t a bad guy. He was just like Duncan back then – hell-bent with justice with his black and white point of view. He was an honorable man, just like Duncan. She glanced at the bar and saw Joe was staring at them curiously. She sighed. “I got it, Steven. But I don’t trust you.”

Keane nodded. “I’m not going to be in Seacouver for long. Hope to see you again.”

Amanda didn’t answer. She turned around and walked towards the nerdy guy in the corner table of the bar. Keane nodded in understanding. He put his overcoat and walked out of the bar, a little bit sadder.


	2. Chapter 2

A few days later, Keane found himself back in the bar, listening to Joe Dawson playing guitar on the stage. This time he was in a bit good mood as he offered Rosalie his congrats but decided that he would not attend the wedding. That lifted a burden he held for so long; he and Rosalie were never meant to be together. She was a mortal, and she didn’t know about immortal. It was better this way.

Joe finished playing the guitar, and the patrons gave him applause. He was very talented for his age and still looked healthy despite his disability. He saw Keane and greeted him, “Hello again.”

“Wow. That’s one fantastic performance.” Keane complimented him.

Joe chuckled, “Thank you. I’m not that good compared to young ones nowadays.”

“Nothing beats experience: they age like a fine wine.” Keane offered.

“I am more like a beer kind of guy, but yeah.” Joe looked around. “Nice turn-up, actually,”

Keane nodded. “I notice.” He signaled him to sit at his table. “Please, join me.”

“Don’t mind if I do.” Joe sat and asked one of the waiters to bring him a bottle of beer. “So…”

“So…?”

Joe pulled out a ring from his shirt pocket and put it on the table. “My guess that this is yours?” He watched as Keane looked at the ring and sighed as he picked it up with his fingers.

“Was mine.” Keane looked at the ring. “My ex-wife is getting married.”

“Sorry to hear that.”

“Now I understand your music,” Keane said and Joe just laughed.

“It’s better than Country music, I guess.”

“Oh, god. I tried listening to that music, and I can’t get into it.” Keane chuckled and put the ring on the table. “Must be because I’m English.”

“But it seems you like Blues and Jazz. I’ve seen you coming for several times now.”

“I guess it’s because they’re less whiny.” Keane looked at the ring. “I’m moving on.”

Joe nodded in understanding. “Is that why you’re looking for Amanda?”

“Am I that transparent?”

Joe laughed, “This is Amanda we’re talking about.”

“She’s your friend?”

“Kinda…” Joe shrugged. “Let’s just say that she’s a friend of my friend.” He looked at Keane. “You seem to know Amanda.”

“Let’s just say that we met in an unusual circumstance.” Keane didn’t offer an explanation and Joe didn’t ask. “I didn’t expect to see her again after all these years.”

“Well… the world is getting smaller.” Joe shrugged. “And for some reason, it’s getting faster.”

“I know what you mean. Back then, 100 years felt so long, but now it feels like yesterday,”

“100 years?” Joe raised his eyebrows.

Keane blinked his eyes, forgetting that Joe wasn’t an immortal. “Well, I can imagine the people back then probably were bored, nothing to do but...” He cleared his throat. “I don’t know… Milked some cows,” Joe drank his beer from the bottle, trying to hide his grin.

He had read some files about Keane.

Born in England, trampled by a horse and died, turned immortal, taught by Sean Burns, held a grudge against Duncan MacLeod for more than two centuries, and finally challenged Duncan more than 26 years ago.

Duncan spared his life.

Even Keane’s Watcher couldn’t believe it back then when he told Joe about it. All he knew that it might have something to do with Amanda and another immortal that the Watcher couldn’t identify. Joe guessed it might be Methos.

Speaking of Methos… Joe watched as Keane’s expression changed from friendly to alert as he looked towards the entrance.

_Crap_, Joe thought.

He immediately knew that Keane sensed an immortal. He saw Methos just walked in, as his face also showed that he felt a buzz from the other immortal. Joe saw that Methos immediately was going to turn around, so he yelled. “HEY ADAM! COME HERE!”

Methos cursed quietly and then plastered a fake smile. “Hey, Joe. Sorry, I think I left something in my car. I’ll be right back.”

“Nah, Nah! It can wait. Come here. I want you to meet someone.”

“It’s okay, Joe. It’ll be a minute.”

“Adam!”

Keane stood up and his body was very tense as Methos approached them. “Alright, old man.” The immortal stood next to Joe. “What’s up?”

“Adam Pierson, meet Steven Keane. He’s an owner of a disco club in Paris and a Jazz aficionado.” Joe grinned as he saw Methos pulled a fake smile. “Steven Keane, this is my friend Adam Pierson. A glorified disco dancer.”

“Hello. Nice to meet you.” He sounded nonchalant. “Joe just being nice. I’m actually a doctor but have been traveling around the world trying to cure people of illness such as ‘youaresuchanasstitis.” He offered his hand to Keane. “Some people just have it.”

“We’ve met.” Keane curtly said. He wasn’t going to take his hand, but Joe was sitting next to them and seemed to enjoy the interaction for some reason, so he had no choice but to shake his hand.

“Have we? I’m sorry; I am bad with faces… and names.” He chuckled. “I’m getting old.”

“We’ve met in Paris.” Keane narrowed his eyes. This immortal seemed to be friends with Joe, and obviously Amanda’s friend, remembering when the two of them were trying to persuade him not to fight Duncan MacLeod. “We have… mutual friends.”

“Paris? Oh, gosh. I haven’t been there for so long. I mean, after living there for years, I can’t handle the weather anymore.” Methos casually said, “Mutual friends, you said?”

“He means Amanda,” Joe said. “You’re going to meet her, right?”

Methos raised his eyebrows. “As a matter of fact, yes. That devil woman owes me money, and I sorta dry in the green.” He sat at the table, which made Keane widened his eyes. He was ready for a fight; maybe challenged him for a duel after this Adam person stabbed him back then and almost take his head off. But he couldn’t get angry and follow him outside, because he didn’t want people to be suspicious. Keane watched the other immortal ordered a pint of beer and felt awkward suddenly, as he didn’t know what to do.

“Hey, sit down man. Check out this guy,” Joe pointed out to a guy on the stage with a saxophone. “This guy is a fantastic musician. You’re gonna love him.” Keane slowly sat back down. He didn’t want to make a scene especially when many patrons were gathering near the stage and they were ready to listen to the performance. One of the waiters called Joe from the bar, and he sighed. “Sorry. I’ll be right back. Enjoy the show, gentlemen.” He left the table, leaving the two men alone.

Keane set his jaws and stage-whispered to Methos, “Let’s go outside.”

Methos curled his lips and poured himself a glass of beer. “Nah, I’m good.”

“I challenge you to a duel.”

“Pass.” He drank his beer as he looked at Keane. “Do you want a beer?”

“You stabbed me.”

“Bygones.” Methos looked at him with a bored expression. “Besides, you had your chance back then in Paris at MacLeod’s barge.”

Keane looked at Methos, bewildered. “Are you refusing to fight me?”

“Yes.” Methos rolled his eyes. “Can we enjoy some drinks and some jazzy music? I’m not in the mood to clang our pointy things together.”

“You stabbed me right in the middle of a duel.” Keane hissed. “You cheated.”

“Ugh, for crying out loud. Should I bow before we fought back then? You didn’t die. Let it go.” He looked at him and snorted. “I forgot who I’m talking to.” Keane was going to punch Methos right in the middle of the bar, but they both suddenly sensed an immortal. Methos glanced at the door and saw Amanda walked in. “Here’s the wench,”

Keane stared at Amanda who approached them. “I see we’re being friendly.” She commented as she took off her coat and revealed a black dress. She could see Keane was so tense and Methos was drinking his beer. “I hope everyone is being nice to each other.” She dropped her coat on Methos’ head, and he grunted.

“I’m being nice. He’s…” Methos waved his hand at Keane and put her coat next to his chair. “He is something else.”

Keane was ready to hit Methos when Amanda gently put her hand on his chest. “Come on, let’s go outside. We need to talk.” She held Keane’s hand and guided him through the crowds. Many people started to applaud as the musician playing his saxophone.

Methos leaned back to his chair as he saw Joe approaching with his cane. “Thanks a lot.”

“He’s a nice kid,” Joe commented and sat down next to Methos.

“That kid is older than you and ready to take my head because you wanted to amuse yourself.”

“Why can’t you guys just get along?”

“I don’t make the rules, Joe.” He poured Joe a glass of beer. “So what’s his story?”

Joe spun a wedding ring in the middle of the table. “Why do you think people go to a blues and jazz bar?”

“Trying to drown their misery with alcohol?” Methos glanced at the door where Amanda and Keane went.

“I wonder those two would do?” Joe asked.

“You’re not in the Watcher anymore.”

“I’m retired.” Joe shrugged. “Whatever it is, I don’t think they would fight or anything.”

Methos rolled his eyes again and drank his beer. He glanced at the wedding ring that Joe put in the middle of the table and remembering his ex-fiancee and her son. It was really hard to be immortal and having a mortal family. Maybe Keane just realized it too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Methos was engaged to a mortal woman named Julia back in 2008 during Highlander: The Reunion starring Peter Wingfield, Elizabeth Gracen, and Jim Bryne.


	3. Chapter 3

Both Amanda and Keane walked slowly at the parking lot. They didn’t say anything as they just walked towards a Ferrari. Finally, they stopped and Amanda leaned in her car.

“Nice chariot.” Keane looked at the red Ferrari.

“Thanks. It’s a gift.” Amanda shrugged and smiled.

Keane snickered. “He must be quite taken by you.”

“I aim to please.” Amanda winked. She sat on the hood of her car, and Keane followed suit. They both didn’t say anything for a while until Keane broke the silence.

“I thought we were going to fight when you dragged me outside.”

Amanda scoffed. “Why’d I ask you to fight with this dress? Where do I hide the sword?”

“Hidden pockets?”

“Steven. Girls’ dresses don’t have pockets. They made it that way so we’d get oppressed and buy purses instead.”

“But it’s a fine dress.” Keane looked at her up and down. “I definitely don’t mind seeing you wearing it.”

“Nobody is mind, darling.” She elbowed him. “I do look good in this dress.”

“Another date?” He asked.

“Something like that.”

“What happened to the guy from a few days ago?”

Amanda pointed to the car. “Well, as you can see, he was very grateful.” Keane shook his head, but she slapped his shoulder playfully. “Get your mind outta the gutter. We were having an innocent date. Sometimes nerds need someone to talk to, and getting an encouragement to see girls.” Amanda smirked. “So I usually provide them with advice.” Keane didn’t say anything but he bit his lip. “Hey, advise ain’t free. And I’m not cheap.” She scooted closer to Keane to get warm. “Men are babies. For centuries they just…” She shook her head. “Well… babies.”

Keane looked sideways at Amanda as their shoulders touched. “What am I?” He murmured to her ear.

She smiled and looked at him. “A friend, I hope.” She stood up and fixed his collar. “Providing that you would forgive me and my friend.”

“Your friend Adam?”

Amanda grimaced, “Sure.”

“Great. His name isn’t Adam?”

“What, after all these years, you never changed your name a few times, see which one did you like? Come on.”

“Point taken.” He looked at Amanda. “You were trying to kill me. You and... Adam.”

“Well, you abducted me.” Amanda sighed. She stood closer to him and she circled her arms around his neck, and Keane held her waist. “We wanted to protect our friend.” She kissed his cheek. Keane closed his eyes – he hadn’t been with a woman since he and Rosalie got divorced. This proximity to her made his skin warm, and he liked it. Maybe he didn’t actually want to fight anybody.

Keane opened his eyes and stared at Amanda’s lips. “Your friend Adam is a jerk.”

“Yeah…I know.” She sighed. “But I really, really, don’t want you guys to fight. Trust me; there are times when I want to strangle him. However, he’s actually… not bad?”

Keane scoffed. “Right.”

“Promise me that you won’t fight him.” She lolled her head. “Or me. I still want to have fun.”

“You said that you don’t trust me.”

“I can learn to trust you if you can learn to trust me.”

“And Adam?”

Amanda paused a bit. “You can learn to trust me.” Keane rolled his eyes. “You can learn to trust me that Adam won’t do anything stupid. He’d rather avoid fights altogether. Me and Adam, we just want to live, Steven.”

“What about the Game?”

She scoffed. “It’s the 21st century. Does anybody really care about The Game anymore? Screw it. Let’s just bring back disco.”

“Were you a disco queen or a hippie queen?”

“None of that hippie shit. I like peace and all, but mama needs some sugar.” Keane looked down and laughed. He liked Amanda, and he didn’t want to fight her. When he first met her in his club, he was already taken by her. Even when she tried to kill her outside his club to protect Duncan MacLeod.

Speaking of Duncan MacLeod… “I have to ask, Amanda.”

“I don’t know where Duncan is.”

Keane paused and looked at her. “You’re not with him anymore?”

Amanda sighed and let him go, and for a moment he felt bereft. “I haven’t seen him for years now. I hope he’s okay.”

He stood up and gently held her hand. “Did you love him?”

Amanda smiled. “I will always love him.” She touched his cheek. “I love all of my friends.”

“Are we friends now?” Keane smiled at her.

Amanda smiled back, and he thought she looked pretty. “We can try.” They were holding hands together. “Start by buying me dinner.”

Keane nodded and laughed.


	4. Chapter 4

Keane watched another musician playing some blues; he was sitting next to Joe. Amanda’s friend, whatever his name was, was already gone. He saw him talking to Amanda, they argued a bit, and then with a huff, he grabbed his coat and took off from the bar. Joe just shrugged watching their interaction and seems used to their behaviors. It was apparent that Amanda owed him some money, but she refused to give it to him, so he left. Amanda then sat with a nerdy-looking guy with glasses, and she was charming him.

Joe chuckled when he saw Keane was watching her. “Don’t worry about it. She’s just trying to help the guy.”

“Yeah, Amanda told me.” Keane frowned. “I never knew that there is such a thing as dating crash course.” He watched as Amanda was talking animatedly to a nerdy guy.

Joe smiled, “Amanda is a good businesswoman. She offers a dating course to those who never dated before, and she asked me whether she can have her business here.”

“You know, back in the day, we didn’t have this kind of thing.” Keane drank his drink. “Meet a girl, ask her out, maybe offer a dowry or two, and then take her out to dinner.”

“Everyone needs a gimmick, nowadays,” Joe commented. They both watched as Amanda and the nerdy guy were taking some selfies. She then kissed the guy on the cheek, and he was blushing. He then pulled out a velvet box and gave it to her, and she made a fake surprise look on her face. She opened the box and took out a diamond bracelet as she squealed, and kissed him again, this time on the lips.

Both Keane and Joe shook their heads watching her.

“I really enjoy your bar, Mr. Dawson.”

“Call me Joe.” He drank his beer. “Thanks a lot for coming. Are you gonna be staying long, or…?”

“I’m going back to London this weekend, and then going back to Paris.” He glanced at Amanda who was still sitting very close to the guy. “My business is done.” He picked the wedding ring with his fingers, and then put it in his shirt pocket. “It’s time to move on.”

Joe nodded and clinked his beer bottle to Keane’s. They both drank their beers while watching the show in front of them. As they were enjoying the performance, Keane suddenly sensed an immortal nearby.

Amanda felt it too, as she stopped talking to her date. Both she and Keane looked around, nervously. _Is it Adam?_ He thought. He looked at the entrance door and saw a menacing looking man staring at him. He didn’t recognize the man but it was apparent that the man was focusing on him. He stared at Keane and then walked out of the bar.

Keane pursed his lips and then stood up when Joe said something that made him pause. “Hey, I think you should just take the backdoor. It’s safer.”

“Pardon?”

“Shady guy appeared and then you are going to follow him? Whatever the end result, it would be messy.” Joe didn’t look at him, he still watching the show. “If you want to leave, just leave. But don’t follow him.”

Keane looked at him, a bit suspicious and bewildered. “What the bloody hell are you talking about?”

“Just an old guy who enjoys a new friend’s companion…” He said. “Don’t like the idea of seeing a friend getting hurt.”

Keane set his jaws. “Do you… do you know about our existence?”

Joe gave a wan smile. “As I said, I’m just an old guy.”

Keane didn’t say anything. He looked at Amanda who was staring at him; a concerned look was very visible on her face. He finished his drink and then offered his hand to Joe. “Hey, Joe… whoever you are, I had a really great time. If I don’t come back…” His hand was still extended. “I just want to say I enjoy our short time together.” Joe shook his hand and nodded.

“You can just stay, man.”

Keane put his coat on and shook his head, “I can’t.”

“You can. You have a choice.”

Keane closed his eyes for a moment and then exhaled, “Tell Amanda that I might not be able to take her for dinner.” He then walked away.

* * *

Keane found him a few blocks near the bar, right beside the river and an abandoned boat. He was a tall man, a bit pale, and he was holding a huge sword. Keane cursed inwardly as he looked at his possible opponent warily. He didn’t want to fight this man; he was having a good time back in the bar, listening to some jazz and blues with his new friend Joe, and he was going to have dinner with Amanda.

“I believe we haven’t met. I am Steven Keane.”

The man sneered, “Oh I know who you are. You were one of the soldiers who butchered my friends during the battle of Gurkha.” Keane blinked in surprise as he didn’t expect that his opponent would bring up the Gurkha War back in the 17th century. “I remember you because you killed me during the battle.”

Keane suddenly remembered what happened; he was in the British East India Company, and their company had border disputes with the Kingdom of Gorkha. “That was a long time ago… a war that time has long forgotten…” He said quietly.

The man angrily yelled, “Not to me! You English are all the same. You take, and take, and take more. You take our countries, our cultures, our people…” It was apparent he was emotional. “After all these years, I finally found you. I saw you on the business news, and I immediately remember that it was you who killed me in the battle and triggered my immortality.” He walked back and forth, watching him, dragging his huge sword. “I had to look for you, and I finally found you in this town.”

“Look… that was a long time ago. I am sorry that I killed you, but we were at a war back then.”

“Shut up! Prepare to die, English scum! Draw your sword!” The man yelled.

Keane sighed. He pulled out his Prussian Cavalry sword and got into a fighting stance. “Can I least get your name?”

“You’re not worthy to even know my name.” The man shouted again. “En garde!”

The man attacked him and Keane blocked his sword with his own which made a very loud clang. They were fighting furiously, especially the menacing man who swung his sword very aggressively, and Keane had to block his every attack. Every time he’d gone for an offensive, the menacing man managed to avoid his attack.

Keane was rather frustrated with the whole thing. The last time he had a sword fight was a few years ago, and it was much easier. But this fight, he didn’t have the heart… All he could think of was Rosalie; his ex-wife who was getting married to someone named Chad, that Jazz and Blues music that he enjoyed, and dinner with Amanda…

The fight took a while, and the menacing man had the upper hand every time. Keane swung his sword, but the man managed to block his attacks. The man was too wrapped up with his vendetta against Keane, and he wouldn’t give up.

Keane was tired, and there was no indication that the menacing man would stop. The man might win, and the thought scared him a bit. He had been living this long, and to lose in a sword fight after all these centuries; he had so much to lose. He had a great life, even after losing to Duncan MacLeod. MacLeod spared his life, and it made him rethink his own life, that maybe revenge and vendetta weren’t the answers. He was so obsessed with killing MacLeod back then he didn’t think about maybe other people had the same vendetta against him. Amanda begged him not to kill MacLeod back then because he was a good person. Keane always thought he, himself, was a good person as well; he never committed crimes, he never cheated or corrupted… He was a good person.

But nobody would tell this menacing man about the goodness of his heart.

He didn’t have anyone like Amanda.

Duncan MacLeod had friends who cared enough about him, like Adam and Amanda, who went on their ways to help him and willing to sacrifice themselves for him.

He had nobody on his side.

When he was in the British East India Company, he was only following orders. He was always serving the British and he’d never think about other people from different countries. He was loyal to the Kingdom. But… look where the loyalty takes him now. The man who challenged him to a duel was trying to seek justice and vengeance because he, a British soldier, killed the nameless man’s friends. He needed his justice; he needed his vengeance… just like when Keane needed his justice and vengeance against Duncan MacLeod who killed his friend.

_“What are you going to think of yourself a hundred years from now, when someone's coming after you for killing a good man, and you're trying to explain your reasons."_ He remembered what Amanda said tearfully to him back then._ "I really hope he listens, when your friends try to stand up for you."_

He didn’t have someone to stand up for him.

The thought made his arm weak, and the man wouldn’t waste the opportunity to disarm him. Keane watched helplessly to see his sword plunged into the river. Before he could react, the man punched his face, and then stabbed him in the stomach. Keane gasped in pain and saw the man’s big sword swung right into his head.

With his last gasp, Keane held his stomach, and fell into the river with a splash, missing the sword.

Before he drowns, he could hear the man was yelling in frustration, and then after that, there were darkness and silence as the water pulled him further.


	5. Chapter 5

Keane woke up with a gasp.

He coughed and looked down at his stomach. It was already healed – he touched his stomach and then looked around.

He was in the bed, sans shirt, and someone was sleeping next to him.

It was Amanda.

Her hair was damp, and she was wearing pajamas. He looked at the window and noticed that it was already dark. He checked an alarm clock beside the bed, and it was 2 AM. He looked around and noticed that he was in an apartment loft, with brick exposed walls, elective artworks, a kitchen, a couch, an antique coffee table, a Persian rug, a recorder player, and many antiquities. He also noticed that there was no television.

He got out of the bed and walked around slowly; his body was in ache. He saw many framed pictures of Amanda throughout the years since photography was invented. She was with many friends, including Joe.

He saw pictures of Duncan MacLeod.

Amanda and Duncan were looking cozy and happy together. He held the framed picture of them laughing. For a moment he felt envious. Not because he was jealous or anything, but he was envious of their relationship. It seems that they were happy together, and it wasn’t supposed to be easy for immortals. It was hard enough to have a normal relationship with a mortal, let alone with immortals.

He had been in many relationships throughout his life, have been married many times, all of them were mortals, and they died. He had experience heartbreaks and sadness, and then he moved on just like any other immortals. He had other things to occupy his mind as other immortals challenge him to duels in any other days…

But immortals friends, he had none… Except for Earl of Dunbar… And Sean Burns… but they all are dead… killed by Duncan MacLeod.

The thought made him angry suddenly, and he threw the framed picture of Duncan and Amanda to the wall, and it shattered the glass.

It woke Amanda up, and she looked at Keane in confusion. “Oh, you’re up.” She looked at the broken frame on the floor. “And you ruin my stuff?” She scoffed. “What gives?”

Keane didn’t answer.

He ran his hair with his hand, frustrated. He sat on the couch and stared at Amanda who was still in bed. “I almost died.” He whispered.

Amanda got up and gingerly with her feet searching for her slippers. “Tell me about it.” She muttered. She then kneeled and held a framed picture of her and Duncan. “No need to get angry with my pictures.” She stood up and put the frame on the table, and then she approached Keane. “You’re safe here.”

“He killed me.”

Amanda shrugged, “Technically, yes. But you’re still alive.”

“Please tell me that you brought me to your flat, not Duncan MacLeod’s flat.”

She hissed and grimaced, “Steven. This place is the closest thing to where I found you.” Keane grunted and leaned back, angrily. “Hey, I ruined my dress for you when I jumped into the river as you were floating, dead. Joe couldn’t help me; he just drove me to the area. Did you know that lifting a dead body is not fun at all? I tried not to be suspicious as I put you in the trunk of Joe’s car.” She pointed to the big old elevator. “I had to drag your ass from the car and into this loft. So, you’re welcome!” He was silent and stared at Amanda, who was cleaning the broken glasses. “You owe me a new dress, by the way.”

“I will buy you fifty dresses, but please tell me – does Joe know about us?”

Amanda sighed, “Yes.”

“How?!”

“He saw an immortal once while he was in Vietnam.” She shrugged. “I don’t know, ask him.”

Keane didn’t say anything. He wanted to ask more, but there were lots of things in his mind. Like he almost died in the hands of an unknown immortal a few hours ago, and it seems his whole life flashed before his eyes.

“Thanks…” He muttered to Amanda. “Thanks for…”

“You bastard – I can’t believe that you just left like that. What the hell were you thinking?” Amanda slapped the back of Keane’s head as she walked away to the kitchen.

“Oi! That hurt.” He rubbed his head. “What was I supposed to do?”

“Uhhh, ignore the guy?” She threw the broken glasses into a trash bin. “Not getting into a fight? Having a nice dinner with me?”

“If I didn’t fight him, he would stalk me and might hurt other people to get to me.”

“Like you did back then when you abducted me to get to Duncan?” Amanda spat.

“Okay, that’s not fair.”

“Who said anything about being fair? Life is not fair. Life sucks. Especially being an immortal. It sucks not knowing whether I’m gonna live tomorrow or in a week.” She grabbed a bottle of whiskey and poured herself a glass. “The whole thing sucks ass!”

Keane closed his eyes, “Amanda…”

“You were going to buy me dinner!” Amanda choked a sob. “We were going to learn to trust each other. And you just left!” She gulped her whiskey and coughed a little. “For what – fighting a stranger because he looked at you with his wonky eyes?”

“Amanda…”

“You are such a stupid idiot!” She yelled. Keane stood up and turned around to see Amanda was emotional and holding her whiskey glass very tightly. Her eyes were teary and she looked angry. It was obvious she was upset, so he approached her slowly, took away her glass, and put it on the kitchen table.

He then hugged her slowly; Amanda put her head on his shoulder and exhaled. She didn’t cry, but she was shaking. “I’m sorry,” Keane said quietly. He kissed her head and hugged her tightly.

“You are such an ass.”

Keane nodded. “I am.”

Amanda muttered, “You owe me new shoes too.”

“I will buy you anything you want.”

“I’d like a new Lamborghini.”

“Not that.”

Amanda let him go and walked back to the bed. She exhaled again and sat on the edge of the bed. “Steven… We are kind of friends now, right?”

Keane nodded as he looked at Amanda. “Yes.”

“We are learning how to trust each other. And we are trying to be friends.” She bit her lip. “I have lost a lot of friends in the course of my life, and I am sure you have too…” She looked at him. “You are a kind man, Steven. I can feel it, even back then. Even when you fought Duncan… I prayed that you both survived.” Keane looked at her, surprised. “I didn’t want both of you to get hurt.”

“MacLeod spared my life.” He said. “I thought… I thought I was going to die back then. He was a really good fighter. He could easily kill me, but he didn’t… For many years I was trying to figure out why he didn’t kill me. He said…” Keane swallowed, “He said that I should just walk away.”

“Some fights aren’t worth repeating, Steven. Sometimes we just need to move on.”

Keane sat next to Amanda and nodded. “That man today challenged me to a duel because I killed his friends back when… I don’t even remember what happened. It was a long time ago, and we were in a war. I killed him, and it triggered his immortality, and ever since then he is holding a grudge against me.” He rubbed his face, tiredly. “Sometimes we always think that we were on the right side of history when we weren’t. My friend Sean Burns told me that we should just try to do the right thing…”

Amanda nodded. “I know, Steven. We just have to live our lives the best we can.”

Both of them didn’t say anything for a while. Keane held Amanda’s hand and looked at their hands together. “Amanda… I’m glad that you are here…”

Amanda whispered, “That’s what friends are for.” She kissed his cheek.

Keane kissed her hand. “Thank you.”


End file.
